All of the Quirks and Features of the Daihatsu Copen L880K (That I have found so far)

Firstly I want to thank you all for giving me 10 Thousand points!
It makes me really happy :D
So to celebrate here are all of the quirks and features of Sachihiro (さちひろ)【幸広】) my L880K Copen.

I have spent a lot more time with Sachihiro since my review of him and although my thoughts on him are still the same, I have found some more quirks.

1. Cute drawings of the Copen in the owners manual

Through out the owners manual you will occasionally come across some really cute drawings of the Copen.

2. Not just any convertible

The 1st gen Copen was the worlds first hard top convertible kei car and I think it may also be the worlds smallest hard top convertible too!
Unfortunately you must be at a complete stop with the hand brake on to be allowed to operate the roof. I tried to operate the roof with the handbrake on just enough for the light to come on wile moving slowly but it didn’t let me operate the roof. I think the handbrake has to be on past a certain point for it to work.

3. Engine

Unlike most kei cars, the L880K has a 4 cylinder engine rather than a 3 cylinder.
Also the 1.3L engine found in the European export models (L881K) from 2007 on wards, was co developed between Toyota and Daihatsu. In fact that same engine can be found in other Daihatsu’s and Toyota’s like the Yaris for example.

The 659cc (L880K) model also had more torque than the other sports kei cars including the Honda Beat, Honda S660, Daihatsu Copen LA400K (thats the 2nd gen btw), Suzuki Cappuccino (EA11R) and Autozam AZ-1 / Suzuki Cara.

4. He's so cute! :3

In my opinion the L880K/L881K are the cutest cars to ever exist. They just look so small, innocent and happy. Also to me it looks like the Copen is blushing when you turn on the fog lights/indicators :3

5. The sun visors are also mini wind deflectors

The visors are hinged backwards so when the roof is off they can be rotated upwards a little bit to help deflect some more wind. In my experience they do help deflect the wind over your head rater than at your face a tiny bit.

6. He is very tiny

Copen’s are really short and narrow compared with modern non kei cars.
Leaves plenty of space between cars in car parks which is a nice bonus!

7. No gap between the windshield and bonnet/hood

Very few cars that I can think of have a panel to cover the gap between the bonnet and windshield.
I remember the old Mini Coopers were like this too. I think it looks nice and I don’t know why manufactures don’t usually bother covering this gap.

8. Seems to share some parts with various Toyota models

Various parts seem to have been borrowed from the Yaris, MR2 and other cheaper Toyota’s from the era.
Also the 3rd brake light says Toyota on it.

9. Big sticker telling you where Not to jack up the car

On the rear suspension’s torsion beam there is a big blue sticker that says not to jack up the car there in both Japanese and English.

10. The seats move a lot

For some reason the seats can move forwards really far as if to give room to climb into some back seats. But there are no back seats! I honestly have know idea why this is like that. Perhaps the seat mechanism was also borrowed from another Toyota?
Also there is a little pocket on the back of the passenger seat too.

11. The blue tabs

When the roof is folded away there is a gap between the boot and the rest of the car. In that gap you can see into where the roof is stored as well as 2 blue tabs on either side.
Those blue tabs are there to help you put the roof back on if something were to fail. You simply pull on both tabs and lift the boot upwards, then you get the 2 “emergency tool”s and use them to unlock two latches in the roof mechanism and then lift the roof upwards. Then you simply close the roof and then the boot, and then the roof will be back in place.
They recommend two people are needed to do this so you can lift the roof up from both sides of the car.

12. You can hear the turbo!

The sound of the turbo whistling as it spools up can be heard. You can also hear a little “tsh” when you lift off the throttle quickly after building some boost.
The sounds the turbo makes aren’t that loud, so they are heard best at low speeds and at lower rpms as there is less wind, tire and engine noise to drown it out. Also driving with the roof and windows down helps you hear it better. Its a really fun sound actually. I love it! XD

13. Tiny Copen's in the interior

In some places in the interior there are little pictures of the Copen.
But other buttons/switches just show a generic car. (probably because those buttons were probably borrowed from some of Toyota’s cars)

14. The horn

The horn is quite cute and it doesn’t sound at all aggressive like the horn in modern cars.

15. Comes with various bits and bobs

Under the carpet of the boot you will find:
•Tire pump
•Tire repair kit
•Scissor Jack
•2 Emergency tools
•Locking wheel nut key
•Tire iron

16. Good Value for money

When the Copen was new it cost around £12,128 - £13,370 making it the cheapest convertible sports car in the UK. And when the 1.3L model came out they reduced the price further apparently!
Also a £500 optional leather package would get you:
•Momo steering wheel
•Leather seats
•Heated seats

And all Copen’s came with the following as standard:
•15” Alloy wheels
•A/C
•Electric mirror control
•Folding hard top
•Electric windows
•Automatic drivers side window
•Remote central locking

That might not sound like much today but back in 2003 when it came to the UK, a lot of cars at that price didn’t have A/C or alloy wheels as standard yet alone an optional Momo steering wheel!
Used you can get them from around £1-6K depending on the year and mileage and the amount of rust there is.
(Prices not adjusted for inflation)

17. Soft close trunk

The boot of the copen will actually gently close its self if you don’t close it all the way.
Watch the video below to see it in action.

18. Perfect for transporting Pocky

A box of Pocky seems to fit perfectly in pretty much every little storage compartment as I show in the post below.

19. Card holder in centre arm rest

Inside of the arm rest there is a card holder. It took a while before I discovered it.
The boot release and fuel door release are in here too, and since this compartment is lockable, you could park the car with the roof off and not worry about someone gaining access to your boot, fuel and engine bay (bonnet release is in lockable glove box).

20. The badge

The Copen badge is tilted and I always thought it was just for style, but I recently discovered that the badge on the Daihatsu Compagno Spider was also tilted. It is very likely this is on purpose, and I think it is a nice throwback/Easter egg.

Thats all

Those are all of the quirks and features I have found so far in my 2005 Daihatsu Copen.
If I find any more I will add them here.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! :D

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